Production of Human Papilloma Virus Type 16 E6 Oncoprotein as a Recombinant Protein in Eukaryotic Cells

which affects women. There are several causes of cervical cancer; among themHPV types 16 and 18 are the most prominent ones which are recurrent andpersistent infections. These genotypes are currently about 70% of cervical cancercauses in developing countries. Due to the importance of these viruses in cervicalcancer, we pioneered the production of Human Papilloma Virus type16 E6oncoprotein as a recombinant protein in order to develop a vaccine. Two HPVoncoproteins, E6 and E7, are consistently expressed in HPV-associated cancer cellsand are responsible for malignant transformation. These oncogenic proteinsrepresent ideal target antigens for developing vaccine and immunotherapeuticstrategies against HPV-associated neoplasm.Methods: In the present study, the cloned E6-oncoprotein of HPV16 in pTZ57R/TE6vector was used to produce professional expression vector. The target genewas subcloned in a eukaryotic expression vector. The pcDNA3-E6 vector waspropagated in E.coli strain DH5α and transfected into CHO cells 72 hours posttransfection.Results: The transfected cells were harvested; mRNA detection and the interestprotein production were confirmed by western blot analysis using specific anti E6monoclonal antibody.Conclusion: HPV16-E6 target protein recognized by specific antibody could bean appropriate form of protein, which can be used for further studies. Due topotential effect of this protein, its DNA construction can be used for DNA vaccine infuture studies.